Review: Birdsong in San Francisco Two-Michelin-Starred Live-Fire Fine Dining

The two-Michelin-starred restaurant Birdsong is our favorite fine dining restaurant in San Francisco. You’ll definitely want to sit at the counter to catch all the kitchen action as chef Chris Bleidorn and his team serve hit after hit of incredibly bangin’ bites from the open fire. The menu is packed with drool-worthy dishes like the signature sweet-and-salty cornbread topped with grilled walnut butter and caviar, and the candy-like sea urchin cream puff filled with warm, savory butterscotch. Birdsong is a paradise for carnivores – the smoked quail is the best we’ve ever had, dry-aged for ten days and lacquered Peking Duck-style in hot oil and honey. Birdsong is the flavor capital of the Bay and our number one must-visit restaurant in town.

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Birdsong

Address & Contact Information
1085 Mission St, San Francisco, California, USA
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Why We Came Back to Birdsong

This is the only restaurant in San Francisco we came back to. Four years ago, it completely blew us away –  it was our favorite fine dining restaurant in the city. But returning to a favorite is risky. So we went back to find out if two-Michelin-starred restaurant Birdsong in San Francisco was still as good as we remember. 

Just like before, we sat at the counter, which is where you really want to be at Birdsong to see the action. The kitchen is led by chef Chris Bleidorn, whose background includes Alinea, Benu, Atelier Crenn, and Saison – and you can really feel that influence in the live-fire cooking.

The Open-Fire Tasting Menu Experience

Fire-Kissed First Courses

The first dish featured local halibut, cured with Meyer lemon and kombu. We didn’t expect something this seaweed-forward to be so bright and citrusy – it was incredibly fresh, and almost tropical. Just like that, we were off to the races.

Next came a playful take on radishes and butter. They were dry-aged over the fire, then paired with warm cultured butter and smoked trout roe. There was so much depth of flavor here – smoky, rich, and funky.

The next dish featured tuna marrow with herbs and flowers in a light bouillon. It wasn’t bad at all – but it was the only dish of the night that didn’t wow us. But the meal was just getting started…

Next came grilled red abalone, cooked over the embers and served with a rich sauce made from its trimmings. The texture was perfect – incredibly tender and buttery, with a charred edge from the fire. There was also braised pig’s face in the dish, bringing deep, savory richness. Chef Bleidorn likes to sneak a little meat into every course – and this was where that carnivore side really started to show. These were our favorite flavors so far, and it made us wonder why we’d only ever had bad abalone before.

The following dish featured Dungeness crab, paired with smoked yam and warm curry spices. The flavors almost felt dessert-like, with a deep, comforting sweetness and a rich, creamy finish. It quickly became one of our favorite dishes of the night.

Our Favorite Dish: Ember-Roasted Black Cod

Up until this point, the meal had been building – but this was the dish we were really waiting for… the ember-roasted black cod. This is, hands down, one of the best fish dishes we’ve ever had – it made it onto our Best Dishes of 2025. The cod was incredibly fatty and tender, with perfectly crispy skin and a deep, smoky flavor from the fire. It was served with smoked spinach, toasted sunflower spice, and an insanely creamy sunflower seed milk that tied everything together.

Best of all, it came with a little bread sidecar: a Parker House roll baked with local seaweed, grilled over the embers, and topped with smoked butter, grilled kombu, and a salty sprinkle of fermented cod bones. At this point, we joked that every dish at Birdsong comes with its own butter pairing. We were instructed to pick up the bun with chopsticks, bite the top off, then use the rest of the bread to soak up the creamy cod sauce. The bread had a soft, doughy center and a crisp, smoky edge from the grill – rich, umami-packed, and completely over the top. This dish alone would be reason enough to come here.

Birdsong’s Signature Dish: Cornbread & Caviar

Then came Birdsong’s signature dish: the cornbread and caviar. This was the dish we’d been craving the most since our last visit. The cornbread is grilled over the fire, then topped tableside with a smoky walnut cream, a drizzle of savory brown butter infused with roasted cacao nibs, and a generous spoon of Oscietra caviar. The cornbread itself is soft in the center, with a crisp, charred edge from the grill. The savory walnut cream adds a slightly bitter, nutty note that bridges the sweet cornbread and the salty caviar. 

The previous version was slightly sweeter, with crème fraîche, clarified butter, and caviar, and it was one of the best dishes we ate that year. We slightly preferred the old version, but this one still hits – just in a more savory direction. Either way, this is still one of the dishes that defines Birdsong. Added bonus? It goes great with Champagne.

Another favorite from our last visit made a return: the sea urchin cream puff. A choux pastry filled with warm, savory butterscotch, topped with silky Santa Barbara uni glazed with egg yolk. Sweet, salty, and completely indulgent – this one can never leave the menu.

Carnivore Paradise: Quail and Wild Boar

Then came the best quail we’ve ever had. It’s dry-aged for ten days, then lacquered Peking-duck style in hot oil and honey, until the skin is glossy and crisp. We were each served a half bird, meant to be eaten with our hands. The meat was incredibly juicy and smoky, served with an XO-style sauce made from the quail’s own innards. Deeply flavorful and unapologetically meaty – this is where Birdsong’s carnivore side fully takes over. To use every part of the quail, they also serve a bone broth alongside a bundle of fresh herbs. We were instructed to cut the herbs ourselves to season the broth. It was rich, buttery, and incredibly comforting.

The final savory courses celebrated wild boar. The loin was brined and grilled over the hearth, served with roasted onions and finished with a rich boar bone broth sauce. It was fatty, savory, and incredibly satisfying. The braised boar shoulder was smoked and cooked like a brisket, then pulled apart tableside and mixed with beans, boar fat, and crispy onions. It was like a meat salad! This is a rich, heavy meal – so come hungry.

Dessert at Birdsong

We transitioned into sweets with a refreshing lemon balm yogurt popsicle with olive oil jam.

Dessert was a bright contrast to the savory courses – a celebration of late-winter citrus and early spring flowers. There was a hibiscus shaved ice with chamomile sorbet and Meyer lemon sauce, a rose custard with pomelo and meringue, and fresh mandarins with a burnt mint cream. After such a rich meal, this was exactly what we needed – light, fragrant, and palate-cleansing.

And then came a surprise birthday dessert – a DIY ice cream sundae. Birdsong makes their own birthday cake ice cream and a variety of condiments which they served tableside. I topped my scoop with whipped cream, cookie dough bites, marshmallows, house-made sprinkles, and a cherry. This was fun, nostalgic, and honestly one of the most enjoyable birthday desserts I’ve ever had.

We also ordered a pour-over coffee, which came with a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie. With crispy edges and a raw, gooey center, it’s one of the best cookies we’ve had. Order coffee just for the cookie!

After the meal, chef Bleidorn took us downstairs into Birdsong’s meat room. The restaurant was built around this room – it’s where they dry-age whole animals and make their own charcuterie. Nothing here is done halfway.

Is Birdsong the Best Fine Dining Restaurant in San Francisco?

Birdsong was the only restaurant we returned to on this San Francisco trip. The last time we ate here, it completely blew us away – but coming back to a favorite is always a risk. But this meal didn’t just live up to our memory. It reminded us exactly why we fell in love with Birdsong in the first place. From the open fire and smoky, deeply layered flavors, to the unapologetically carnivorous cooking, Birdsong is a restaurant that commits fully to flavor. Dish after dish, everything is bold, craveable, and incredibly well-balanced. 

After this meal, we declared Birdsong the flavor capital of San Francisco – yet it somehow still flies under the radar. Birdsong is still our favorite fine dining restaurant in the city, and a place we’ll always come back to whenever we’re in the Bay Area. No one cooks quite like this in San Francisco.

Have you been to Birdsong? Let us know how your experience was in a comment below.

Our Michelin road trip series

Birdsong was the final stop on our Michelin road trip through California, where Alouette collaborated with three Michelin-starred restaurants up the coast. Watch the full Michelin road trip series.